Ms Suzanne
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I do hope they will please share some of their DNA information or relative matches they have on him. It might help to Identify him.
Identified! PA - Philadelphia, 'Boy in the Box', WhtMale 4-6, 4UMPA, Feb'57 #2 - Joseph Augustus Zarelli
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EXCLUSIVE: Philadelphia Police Hope Break In 1957 Unsolved Murder Leads To The Boy In The Box's Identity
A 6-year-old boy's body was found in February 1957 in the Fox Chase section of the city. Now 64 years later, we may be the closest yet on learning who America's unknown child may be.
philadelphia.cbslocal.com
I wonder how far they have come to finding his family members?
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I think that have a tentative identification but his name is being withheld for the medical examiner to confirm it officially"Police now have a DNA profile they hope leads them to family members of the little boy. Investigators say this gives them a new direction."EXCLUSIVE: Philadelphia Police Hope Break In 1957 Unsolved Murder Leads To The Boy In The Box's Identity
A 6-year-old boy's body was found in February 1957 in the Fox Chase section of the city. Now 64 years later, we may be the closest yet on learning who America's unknown child may be.
I wonder how far they have come to finding his family members?
Or, they have narrowed it down to a family but not to an exact member.
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You may be right. My fear with this case has been, if he has no siblings or other relatives still living that remember him, there could be no record of him.
This is my concern as well. His biological family might not be aware of his existence.
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Older article dated: 5/15/2006 Part One:
An old man sits on an aqua couch in a pink room. soon he will visit a little boy’s grave. But first he leafs through the white binder in his lap, turning its plastic pages with a patient hand. Here is the typewritten autopsy report, dated February the 25th, 1957. Here are fading aerial photographs of the farms and woodlands surrounding the crime scene, taken with his own Speedgraphic camera. Here are photos of the battered boy laid out on a metal gurney, nude but for a white handkerchief draped over his groin for modesty’s sake. Here are copies of newspaper clippings from the 1950s, ’60s, ’70s and so forth, the past bleeding into the present. And here are snapshots of the old man himself, and of his police department colleagues, through the years. Black-and-white pictures of them in the ’50s, young and purposeful and efficient-looking in high-waisted pants and short ties. Color four-by-sixes of them today, in white slacks and baseball hats, thicker around the middle and a little worse for wear but still alive and kicking. Still searching for that thing—that one thing. It’s the thing they have yet to resolve, the one thing they still haven’t made right. It’s the one thing the old man needs to take care of before it’s too late.
The little boy would be 50, 51 years old if he were alive today, but in Bill Kelly’s mind he is still a child. Time has stood still for the boy, but not for the man. He has circulation problems now, and age spots on his skin, and white hair he combs neatly back each morning, and a plastic pillbox of medicines he takes daily, some with food, some on an empty stomach. He’s been living on God’s green earth for 75 years. He’s seen a lot during that time—some of which he’d rather forget, frankly—and yet Kelly remains singularly haunted by this case, by this one little boy, who has been on his mind for the better part of 46 years. It’s the one case he couldn’t close, the one mystery he couldn’t solve. Kelly knows time is running out. He leans in to study a close-up of the boy’s face for the umpteenth time. Who are you? he wants to ask. What is your name?
Time to go. More at link:
www.phillymag.com
Dated: JUNE 20, 2022
Patrolman Elmer Palmer was one of the first officers to arrive on the scene. The box was located on a dirt road, which was commonly used by local residents as a dumping ground. In addition to a variety of other trash, Palmer found the box the student called to report. Unfortunately, it did not contain a doll. Instead, the patrolman confirmed it was the body of a young boy.
A medical examiner determined the boy was 3'3 and weighed 30 pounds. As he had not lost any of his baby teeth, it is estimated that he was between the ages of four and six. However, as he was severely malnourished, they were unable to determine his specific age.
Although he was nude, Philadelphia Magazine reports the boy's body was wrapped in a brown and green blanket, which had a Native American pattern. The medical examiner noted the boy was clean and his fingernails were neatly trimmed. His hair had also been recently cut, as some clippings were still present on his shoulders and upper body. Those details may suggest the boy was well cared for, but further details revealed something far more sinister.
More at link:
www.grunge.com
An old man sits on an aqua couch in a pink room. soon he will visit a little boy’s grave. But first he leafs through the white binder in his lap, turning its plastic pages with a patient hand. Here is the typewritten autopsy report, dated February the 25th, 1957. Here are fading aerial photographs of the farms and woodlands surrounding the crime scene, taken with his own Speedgraphic camera. Here are photos of the battered boy laid out on a metal gurney, nude but for a white handkerchief draped over his groin for modesty’s sake. Here are copies of newspaper clippings from the 1950s, ’60s, ’70s and so forth, the past bleeding into the present. And here are snapshots of the old man himself, and of his police department colleagues, through the years. Black-and-white pictures of them in the ’50s, young and purposeful and efficient-looking in high-waisted pants and short ties. Color four-by-sixes of them today, in white slacks and baseball hats, thicker around the middle and a little worse for wear but still alive and kicking. Still searching for that thing—that one thing. It’s the thing they have yet to resolve, the one thing they still haven’t made right. It’s the one thing the old man needs to take care of before it’s too late.
The little boy would be 50, 51 years old if he were alive today, but in Bill Kelly’s mind he is still a child. Time has stood still for the boy, but not for the man. He has circulation problems now, and age spots on his skin, and white hair he combs neatly back each morning, and a plastic pillbox of medicines he takes daily, some with food, some on an empty stomach. He’s been living on God’s green earth for 75 years. He’s seen a lot during that time—some of which he’d rather forget, frankly—and yet Kelly remains singularly haunted by this case, by this one little boy, who has been on his mind for the better part of 46 years. It’s the one case he couldn’t close, the one mystery he couldn’t solve. Kelly knows time is running out. He leans in to study a close-up of the boy’s face for the umpteenth time. Who are you? he wants to ask. What is your name?
Time to go. More at link:
Who is the Boy in the Box? - Philadelphia Magazine
In 1957, a young boy was discovered dead in the woods in Fox Chase, his head poking from a cardboard box. It would become Philly’s most famous unsolved murder.
www.phillymag.com
Dated: JUNE 20, 2022
Patrolman Elmer Palmer was one of the first officers to arrive on the scene. The box was located on a dirt road, which was commonly used by local residents as a dumping ground. In addition to a variety of other trash, Palmer found the box the student called to report. Unfortunately, it did not contain a doll. Instead, the patrolman confirmed it was the body of a young boy.
A medical examiner determined the boy was 3'3 and weighed 30 pounds. As he had not lost any of his baby teeth, it is estimated that he was between the ages of four and six. However, as he was severely malnourished, they were unable to determine his specific age.
Although he was nude, Philadelphia Magazine reports the boy's body was wrapped in a brown and green blanket, which had a Native American pattern. The medical examiner noted the boy was clean and his fingernails were neatly trimmed. His hair had also been recently cut, as some clippings were still present on his shoulders and upper body. Those details may suggest the boy was well cared for, but further details revealed something far more sinister.
More at link:
The Tragic 1957 Murder Of The Boy In The Box Explained - Grunge
The tragic 1957 murder of the "Boy in the Box" has still never been solved, but the case continues to haunt those who worked on it.
www.grunge.com
Ms Suzanne
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I hope and pray he is Identified soon. I do hope they will please share some of their DNA information or relative matches they have on him. It might help to Identify him.
Ms Suzanne
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Has he been Identified? Has anyone called them to find out? This is so sad. I know in my heart he will be Identified.
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I believe Identifiers is doing the work. Unlike DDP, they probably won't share relative match names publicly until he is officially identified.
As long as he is in NAMUS, he is still considered unidentified.
Although there are "hints" that he has been identified, it works like this: They may have found a cousin. They may have found siblings on a family tree. However, they would probably need one of the siblings or closest relative to consent to DNA testing before they make a positive ID. JMO
I highly doubt that his birth parents are still alive.
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*WARNING: Graphic photos in article. Postmortem photos usually don’t bother me. Finding my brother’s body after 3 months in the woods kinda hardened me up. But I’m in tears. He looks so innocent and small.
On February 25, 1957, Pennsylvania, USA received a call to the police. In the woods on Susquehanna Road near Fox Chase, Philadelphia, a Saarland University junior was inspecting a rabbit trap and found a discarded cardboard box inside. A boy's body was lying there. At first, he thought it was a discarded doll.
Officer Elmer Palmer drove to the scene immediately and was greeted by a cardboard box that had originally contained a pram. Inside the box was the body of a young boy, wrapped naked in a tattered blanket, with his head and With his shoulders sticking out of the box, the boy was between 4-6 years old and had been dead for days or even weeks.
Due to the cold weather in the area, the exact time of death could not be identified. The boy was severely malnourished, with an L-shaped scar on his chin and surgical scars on his ankle and groin. The corpse had many bruises, and a large section of hair had been cut "roughly". He weighed only 30 pounds and was 40.5 inches tall, with blue eyes half-closed into his skull and his mouth half-open, as if he had been crying before he died.
After a preliminary investigation by the police, the cause of death was determined to be blunt trauma to the head. Investigators found a blue corduroy hat in nearby bushes. Police took his fingerprints, hoping to find an identity matching the body among the missing children. Over the next few months, pictures of the boy appeared in newspapers and posters across the region, drawing national attention.
More at link:
On February 25, 1957, Pennsylvania, USA received a call to the police. In the woods on Susquehanna Road near Fox Chase, Philadelphia, a Saarland University junior was inspecting a rabbit trap and found a discarded cardboard box inside. A boy's body was lying there. At first, he thought it was a discarded doll.
Officer Elmer Palmer drove to the scene immediately and was greeted by a cardboard box that had originally contained a pram. Inside the box was the body of a young boy, wrapped naked in a tattered blanket, with his head and With his shoulders sticking out of the box, the boy was between 4-6 years old and had been dead for days or even weeks.
Due to the cold weather in the area, the exact time of death could not be identified. The boy was severely malnourished, with an L-shaped scar on his chin and surgical scars on his ankle and groin. The corpse had many bruises, and a large section of hair had been cut "roughly". He weighed only 30 pounds and was 40.5 inches tall, with blue eyes half-closed into his skull and his mouth half-open, as if he had been crying before he died.
After a preliminary investigation by the police, the cause of death was determined to be blunt trauma to the head. Investigators found a blue corduroy hat in nearby bushes. Police took his fingerprints, hoping to find an identity matching the body among the missing children. Over the next few months, pictures of the boy appeared in newspapers and posters across the region, drawing national attention.
More at link:
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I'm from the Greater Philadelphia area and have been obsessed with this case for a long, long time. When they made the announcement that he'd likely be identified by the end of 2021, I checked for updates daily but to no avail. Now we're in late July with still no updates. I really hope they haven't hit a bump in the road; but like many, I believe they're just trying to narrow it down before making a definitive confirmation. I can't help but wonder what that entails... They still have so much work on their hands.
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RSBM
That photo of him in the box was taken from the IMDB page for the old "Cold Case" show - the episode of their take on the boy in the box. I've seen the episode many times (loved that show, still watch reruns) and saw CBS on the pic in the article you posted and thought, wait a minute... that pic is of the actor who played him in that episode.
"Cold Case" The Boy in the Box (TV Episode 2004) - Photos - IMDb
The Boy in the Box: Directed by Karen Gaviola. With Kathryn Morris, Danny Pino, John Finn, Jeremy Ratchford. The 1950's notorious cold case of the "boy in the box" is reopened and it's discovered that he resided in a Catholic orphanage with his sister until his sudden adoption before his death.
www.imdb.com
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Dated February 26, 2022
*I just realized the boy’s discovery date is my brother’s birthday…
Anyways, here’s the article:
'Whatever the circumstances, this poor little boy was left abandoned and alone. And over the past 64 years, there have been thousands of hours devoted to finding out who he was, to give him a name," said chairman Howard Lebofsky of the Vidocq Society.
There is a plaque on the 700 block of Susquehanna Road that marks the spot where the 'Boy in the Box' was found.
His case was taken up by the Vidocq Society, which is made up of some of the world's top investigators.
6abc.com
Although he was nude, Philadelphia Magazine reports the boy's body was wrapped in a brown and green blanket, which had a Native American pattern. The medical examiner noted the boy was clean and his fingernails were neatly trimmed. His hair had also been recently cut, as some clippings were still present on his shoulders and upper body. Those details may suggest the boy was well cared for, but further details revealed something far more sinister.
www.grunge.com
*I just realized the boy’s discovery date is my brother’s birthday…
Anyways, here’s the article:'Whatever the circumstances, this poor little boy was left abandoned and alone. And over the past 64 years, there have been thousands of hours devoted to finding out who he was, to give him a name," said chairman Howard Lebofsky of the Vidocq Society.
There is a plaque on the 700 block of Susquehanna Road that marks the spot where the 'Boy in the Box' was found.
His case was taken up by the Vidocq Society, which is made up of some of the world's top investigators.
Community members hold memorial service to mark anniversary of 'Boy in the Box' cold case
A memorial service was held Saturday in Philadelphia's Fox Chase section to mark the anniversary of one of the city's oldest and most devastating unsolved murders.
Although he was nude, Philadelphia Magazine reports the boy's body was wrapped in a brown and green blanket, which had a Native American pattern. The medical examiner noted the boy was clean and his fingernails were neatly trimmed. His hair had also been recently cut, as some clippings were still present on his shoulders and upper body. Those details may suggest the boy was well cared for, but further details revealed something far more sinister.
The Tragic 1957 Murder Of The Boy In The Box Explained - Grunge
The tragic 1957 murder of the "Boy in the Box" has still never been solved, but the case continues to haunt those who worked on it.
www.grunge.com
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It is such a sad story. I would think with the abuse involved IF it is relatives that were responsible it would require a lot of caution. My opinion. Whoever is responsible for that matter. My opinion.
My opinion
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I think you're absolutely right regarding the relatives and abuse. If the poor child wasn't being abused by his family, surely they'd come forward to report their poor boy missing. The cut hair, surgical scars near the groin suggest that he could've been raised as a girl, but I don't know how realistic that sounds—it sounds more to me that they just wanted to cover up his identity further.
Also, I've been reading about this dead cat that was discovered in a sweater nearby. Wtf? I don't remember this at all. I want to say that they aren't related, but that sure is a super spooky circumstance.
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I agree.
I feel that he looked the way he did because he was abused and neglected.
JMO They probably didn't cut his hair because he was neglected.
They may have bathed him to "clean him up" post mortem.
JMO: My hunch is he had developmental delays and was kept locked up in basement.
He was beaten and died.
Then he was bathed and they cut his hair. JMO
Groin scars indicate likely hernia repair to me (My son had one)
If and when we find out who was it's just going to be plain old sad.
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You nailed it—I agree with everything you just said/typed!
I agree with you all. And even sadder trauma and malnutrition/starvation can cause developmental delays/issues. I had a student who was her own aunt and was punished for being the daughter of her sister and their father. When she became pregnant she was finally removed from the home. MOO. I often think of her and that was 30 years ago. A child should never be punished for the sins of the father in my humble opinion.
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